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Title: Contact |
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Review of Contact
- In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who -- or what -- is out there?
In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future -- and our own.
Product Description
- It is December 1999, the dawn of the millennium, and a team of international scientists is poised for the most fantastic adventure in human history. After years of scanning the galaxy for signs of somebody or something else, this team believes they've found a message from an intelligent source--and they travel deep into space to meet it. Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sagan injects Contact, his prophetic adventure story, with scientific details that make it utterly believable. It is a Cold War era novel that parlays the nuclear paranoia of the time into exquisitely wrought tension among the various countries involved. Sagan meditates on science, religion, and government--the elements that define society--and looks to their impact on and role in the future. His ability to pack an exciting read with such rich content is an unusual talent that makes Contact a modern sci-fi classic.
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Comments for Contact
- Posted on 2008-07-03
Fantastic! Much better than the film adaptation.
As a youngster, the vastness of the universe and the possibility of life beyond our planet fascinated me. That probably explains why, when as a teenager I first saw the movie adaptation of this book, I was moved greatly.
A lonely young woman, who misses her father who passed when she was a child, devotes herself to the pursuit of making contact with life beyond our planet. That contact is made at the facility she manages, and the entire diplomatic and economic strength of the world is thrust behind the project to decode the Message and build the Machine. All of our conceited, egotistical superstitions, as well as our secular nationalist quarrels, are put aside as we are confronted with the reality that we are not alone.
When our protagonist does makes contact, what does she learn? That there are others in the cosmos who have been here much longer than we have and are much more advanced, but do not have the answers to the fundamental questions that plague our shared existence. She learns that they have been looking for the same answers too, but in all their searching have found that what is really important is our connections with one another.
Beautiful.
While the film was able to be faithful to that central theme of the book, I think that the occasions of digression cheapen the message. Carl Sagan's written version is much, much more dynamic and ultimately intellectually and emotionally fulfilling.
*Spoiler Warning*
In the book there is no distracting romance between Dr. Arroway and Palmer Joss, the dialogue between the proponents of dogma and the proponents of science are much more interesting, there is no asinine suicide bomber sabotaging the Machine, the presence of the Five rather than simply Dr. Arroway adds to the concept of a shared human experience void of nationalistic identity, and in the end the "meaning of life" is something that Dr. Arroway ultimately learns rather than something she is simply told.
*/Spoiler Warning*
This is a fantastic book that I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of science fiction and has an overactive imagination regarding the cosmos and the possibility of life beyond our little planet. I had anticipated Sagan's literary style to be dry and unappealing and therefore delayed reading this novel, but I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. This book was for me a literal page turner.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-07-02
If we are alone in the universe, it seems like an awful wwaste of space.
Ellie Arroway is the director of a project that monitors radio telescopes used to detect signs of extraterrestrial life.
When a repeating series of prime numbers is detected, Ellie discovers a message--plans for a machine that seats five people. The machine is built and five people (Ellie among them) travel through a series of wormholes. Ellie and her teammates meet beings who suggest the existence of a higher being who created everything.
Though the travelers had an experience lasting many hours, when they return to Earth only 20 minutes have passed and no video footage survived the trip. Left with no proof of their experiences, the team members are accused of making up the whole thing.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-06-07
A wonderful story about first contact.
This was a great story. I am a science and astronomy buff so this was right up my ally. Sagan did a wonderful job and I love how he put an agnostic scientist in the place of not being able to prove the experience she had with aliens. I read this book years ago and when the movie came out I couldn't wait to see it. Sagan was a wonderful human being and tread lightly when it came to the beliefs of others.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-11-22
Contacting pi
Sagan was a very intelligent man and it shows in what he wrote about. Rarely do i see a movie i really like with the book being as good or vice versa. The different ending to the book is maybe more interesting than the movie but is more of a cerebral subject. Discussing pie in a movie and implications of it would not work as well but in a book, very interesting.
I wonder how much this book has contributed to the explosion of books analyzing pi and its history?
Score: 5 - Posted on 2007-11-18
One of the Best Science Fiction Books
"Contact" is, in my opinion, one of the best science fiction books written to date. Carl Sagan addresses one of the fundamental questions facing the world today...does life exist elsewhere in the Universe?
Beyond the scope and inherent engaging elements of this question, "Contact" is so good for a number of other reasons as well: it is credible, the characters are interesting and engaging and the tone of the novel is one of suspense coupled with science education coupled with an undercurrent of what this all means for humankind.
"Contact" is a great book for all readers, but especially good for readers with an interest in science and technology.
Score: 5